What is Biblical Sanctification as applied to the Believer Today?

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 16, 2011 at 4:04pm

Amanda,

 

So sanctification is different than salvation?

Yes and no (sorry). Salvation as a whole has three basic parts for the culmination of it to be experienced. There is justification, sanctification and glorification.

 

Justification is the judicial act of God whereby He proclaims the sinner completely innocent and free of charge through the blood of Jesus. The person who accepts/surrenders to Jesus is adopted into the family of God and is born-again.

 

Sanctification: Is one being set apart from sin and unto God for His purposes. There are two parts to this process. Part 1 is that when we are born-again our spirit is changed, the old is gone and the new has come. The Holy Spirit comes to indwell us, mark us and seal us. We are spiritually new babes in Christ, fully holy and righteous as Christ is holy and righteous. For it is His holiness and righteousness that we possess. We start as babes spiritually and must mature spiritually, but our holiness and righteousness does not change in that we do not become more holy or righteous spiritually, because it is not ours, but His that we possess to start with. Part 2 is the experiential sanctification. This is the battle between the regenerated spirit and the flesh. The flesh must be subdued. We are called to holy living. This is a process. As we mature and in the maturing process we experience the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and we begin to overcome the flesh in our daily lives. For some this process is fairly rapid, while others may take a while. There can be numerous factors causing this, but we will not attempt to cover that here. The key part is surrender. Letting go of our will and desiring His will. We will not successfully subdue the flesh long term if the goal of subduing it is our will, us doing it. The sustaining power comes from God and is enabled as we seek His will to be done in our lives by surrendering to His will.

 

Glorification: is the time when we will physically be changed, resurrected bodies.

 

Justification is another word for salvation. His blood washes away our sins and frees us from an eternity in Hell. Believers are saved because of what Christ has already done. We can do nothing to earn salvation. It‘s a gift.

Yes. Different people will use different words to express what you said, but in essence, yes.

 

But then you seem to be saying a further work of sanctification occurs as a result of salvation. But at the new birth, the Holy Spirit enters our life, and we live for God. So we are sanctified by being saved by grace. And we are called to be living sacrifices. Sanctification is a continuing process.

I think this is covered in my earlier response. If not, inquire further.

 

We are to continue in the faith.

Continue in faith coupled with surrender to His will.

 

But we sin. Even though we have been "set apart" as God's children, we continue to sin. Galatians 5:17: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."
This illustrates the war that the believer finds him or herself in. The Spirit is changed (righteous and holy) and the flesh is still the same old flesh. The spirit knows now what righteousness and holiness is and the flesh wants nothing to do with that. Both meet for battle in the battlefield known as the mind. The one who wins that battle directs the actions of the person. We look at this battle and wonder if we can ever win it. That is the whole point, we can’t apart from God working and willing through us.  Let’s use an picture example that I am applying to see the contrast. When David went to fight Goliath there would not be any sane person who would have bet on David to win (not factoring in God). The boy could not possibly beat the giant. The reality was he could not. Simple plain truth. Saul put his armor on him and David rejected it. Worldly weapons were not going to help David. He was only able to overcome the giant because he depended on God to win the victory, not self. David walked onto the battlefield, used his sling-shot, but the victory was won by God through the obedient individual. Any other method would have spelled defeat fro David. Though this account is not about sanctification or the war of the spirit and flesh, it illustrates it quite well. It almost sounds fatalistic, but it is only when we give up (surrender to God) that we truly become a force to be reckoned with in the spiritual realm and physical realm for God’s glory.

I do want to please and obey God.

This will sound blunt and cold, but I know no other way to put it. Until you do want to please and obey God you will not experience experiential sanctification. You will not experience Holy Spirit empowerment. This does not mean you will not experience Him, for He is in you. There is a difference between presence and manifested presence. Your heart’s desire, heart’s cry, should be “Nothing less than all of Him” followed by “Not my will, but Your will be done.”

 

It’s difficult. Sometimes I am selfish, unforgiving, angry. Is this the normal struggle that we are supposed to have, a struggle between sin and obedience?
Lay these at the Father’s feet. When we say “God I can’t do it” we are so close to the place where God will do it. It is when we retain the idea that we can that we will not. The spiritual walk is so opposite to the walk of the flesh and the ways of the world.

How does it work? What does it mean to be "set apart" if there is more to it than being justified at the new birth? Do we become more and more holy by trial and error?

You do not become more and more holy. Your life begins to align with God and thus your are living a holy life that flows from the spirit within that possess and is possessed by the holiness and righteousness of Jesus.

 

Bear with me. “How does it work?” makes it sound like a math problem. This is completely different. A holy life is possible in the life of a saved person who is surrendered to God in that it is no longer I, but Christ who lives through me. So many people wear themselves out by trying harder, when God calls us to surrender that He may live through us. This biblical truth is so foreign to the world, a world that teaches only the strong survive. In God’s economy only the surrendered succeed. Romans 8 is a great study on this subject.

 

I will stop at this point as I am sure there will be some further questions coming and rightly so.

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 16, 2011 at 6:58pm

Hahaha ... excellent. If I were wearing a hat I would have to tip it to you :-)

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 16, 2011 at 6:59pm

Never mind, I went and put one one just so I could tip it to you .... TIP ... :-)

 

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 22, 2011 at 12:18pm

Amanda,

 

It is a combination of both us and God in the experiential stage. We choose to surrender and set are desires/will on obeying and He empowers us as we take the steps toward that end. The progression stage of sanctification.

 

He does not help us die more and more to sin, Jesus blood paid for our sins. We battle the flesh that wars against us. He helps us to live for Christ as we die to self. This is called overcoming our flesh and living for Jesus. We live for Christ, not self.

 

Lord Bless,
LT

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 22, 2011 at 3:02pm

Amanda,

 

Walking in the Spirit will include aligning with and adhering to the Bible, but is much more. It is walking according to God's plan and will for our life moment by moment. Our goal is truly "not I, but Christ." This represents the surrendered life, that it is Jesus living in us and through us. 

 

Sin is either an action (committed or omitted) or a thought. The flesh is literally the unregenerate flesh that we live in that is prone to sin. We are to subdue the flesh daily keeping ourselves from sin and in alignment with Christ. This is done by choosing Christ overself and being empowered by the Holy Spirit in all things. That represents the experiential sanctified life.

 

In one sense we are either living for self or Christ. If for self, we are living in rebellion and that is sin. The Bible says that we are to no longer live for sin, but for Christ (LT paraphrased). Thus I am to be dead to sin and alive (living) to Christ.

 

Lord Bless,
LT

Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 22, 2011 at 3:06pm

We overcome and experience victory in the sanctified life by choosing Christ's way over sin and being empowered by the Holy Spirit to take the next step. It requires a will bent to do right and a spirit empowered by the Holy Spirit.

 

God will empower us to do right and, yet, allows us to do wrong. The choice is ours, the ability to overcome is given by Him.

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 22, 2011 at 3:59pm

Keeping this focused only on the born-again who have the Spirit of God living in them we see the following:

 

Those who sin will experience convcition by the Holy Spirit. A person may respond to this conviction in basically one of two ways. Repenting or rebelling. Repentance leads to realigning with God. We have agreed that what we have done was sin and agreed that God's path is right and confessed this truth (1 John 1:9). For those who experience the conviction and choose self (rebellion) they face divine discipline. The method of discipline is up to God. The goal is corrective in nature.

 

The joy and peace of the Lord is found and experienced by those who walk in His ways as led by the Spirit. Life is meant to be lived in alignment with God. One author calls the center of God's will the "Sweet Spot."

 

Lord Bless,

LT

Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 23, 2011 at 12:28pm

Amanda,

 

Basically, sanctification is how we become holy.

Yes, both positionally at salvation and the experientially over the course of one’s life. The first is a completed act of God that changes our spirit fully, though born as babes. The second is the subduing of the flesh in such a way that we live in alignment with God

 

We are to pursue it and obey God's Word to the best of our ability and repent where we fail.

Yes, but relating to experiential sanctification our will is bent on doing right and at the same time empowered by God to accomplish it. We fail primarily when we choose self over God. The choice is before us, but too often man chooses self-will over surrender. When we sin we are to confess our sin and ask for forgiveness that we may be restored and ready to proceed on the path of life that aligns with God.

 

If we aren't doing it, it means we aren't doing the works that are supposed to follow being born again.

I understand what you are saying, but this is sounding legalistic in the approach. There is a right way to live and that way is in the Spirit aligned with the Word, but it is not going to be simply a set of codes we live by, but a way of life. The simplest way to say it is if we are living for self and not surrendered to God we are not pleasing Him with our life. If we are living for Him surrendered to the Holy Spirit each day and overcoming the flesh we will be living the life that pleases Him.

 

Absence of those works likely means the heart was never truly regenerated and that probably means the person never had godly sorrow that leads to true repentance that leads to being born again.

That could be true, but the problem here is defining work or fruit. Fruit is not always an external thing evidences by others at any given moment. A lot of the fruit we experience in life as we grow is internal as we mature. This maturity in turn determines the external action. Fruit in this context is simply doing the right thing. There are times in one’s life where it appears that there is no fruit being brought forth. Man tends to evaluate based on the things that are visible. Imagine for a moment that you are able to see Jesus during His 40 days in the desert. During those 40 days based on man of today’s standards people would accuse Him of not bearing any fruit. Two things come into play here. One, we cannot tell what was taking place in Jesus during this time. Two, fruit bearing comes in season.

 

 

Without sanctification we cannot go out into the world and win people for Christ. We're not empowered and we're just going to live miserable Christian lives trying to measure up in our own strength, trying to do and do and do, and giving it our best effort.

Again keeping in mind the two aspects, from my understanding of the Word of God, That there is positional and experiential sanctification. A person is a believer at salvation, but there is more that comes with being filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus to live life without being filled is like living a stunted Christian life. You will do good things and even reach people, but it is more difficult because, though walking in the new nature, one is walking primarily in their own strength. Whereas the one filled with the Spirit is capable of walking in the power of the Spirit.

Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 25, 2011 at 12:56pm

Amanda,

 

We see in this text a born-again believer focused on living a holy life (experiential sanctification) with glorification (physical transformation) and reward in sight.

 

Verse 12 is speaking of this life lived out followed by a view of glorification.

Verses 13-14 he acknowledges that he has not been made perfect (in the flesh awaiting glorification) and acknowledges that he presses on (living the right way) in a manner that is pleasing to God. When we are glorified we will also be rewarded. Salvation is a free gift, but our labors do earn rewards. The rewards are secondary to the gift we received in Christ Jesus.

Verses 15-16 reveals that there are some who are more mature than others. It also tells us that God will work it all out. We just need to live up (live out) to the life we have already attained. This is pleasing to God. This illustrates the progessive part of experiential sanctification.

Verse 17 reitterates the call to living a right way.

Verses 18-19 pretty straight forward, there are lost people.

Verse 21 proclaims our new citizenship and that we eagerly await Him coming for us.

Verse 22 illustrates the glorification process where our bodies will be transformed.

 

Lord Bless,
LT

 

 

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Permalink Reply by RoyW on February 16, 2011 at 3:26pm

LT,

I believe sanctification is another of the process of the salvation experience. Once we have become saved we are set apart by God and anointed for a particular work of service. The whole is the salvation of our souls. Sanctification does not cleanse us any more nor does it make us holy in the sense of a more godly life. What it does is set us apart as His servant. It is as He is saying, "This one belongs to me." That one may not be any better whatsoever than the one that doesn't belong to Him but the person is holy because He belongs to God. There is nothing we can do to become holy or sanctified. It is not a work of our part but completely a work of His. Once He has made us holy, we will attempt to live a better life but that attempt or even the success of that attempt does not make us any more holy than the day He said we were His. Those who are His are holy. They have been set apart as a process of His grace.

I used to use an example of two pens. I have now either lost them or misplaced them (something He will never do) but I used them as an illustration. When I would go into a closing office to sign a contract I had chosen a particular pen that I would do that with. It was not better than the other pens, it simply was the pen I had chosen for that purpose. I could say in a sense that pen was holy, sanctified or set apart for that particular service. I did not use that pen for any other purpose. It was set apart to sign contracts.

God has set me apart for a particular purpose. I am no better than the other but I am set apart for that purpose. I am holy. I am sanctified. That is something He did to me. That was an act on His part. My part is something else but He is the One Who sanctifies. Growing up in the holiness movement, I have always thought that holiness was dependent on how good I was. I now know that was not holiness that I was thinking about but maybe maturity or something of that sort.

There are so many Biblical examples of sanctification and I am sure they will come out on this discussion. I am replying here because it is a topic I am interested in hearing the opinions of others on. I am looking forward to some good replies.

Blessings,

Roy

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 16, 2011 at 4:08pm

Roy,

 

You and I come from very similar backgrounds, especially on this subject. I agree with what you have said for the most part, but would add that I see the "crisis" and the "progressive" parts of sanctification in the experential aspect (the life lived out). These require a surrender on our part, a letting go if you will, so that we truly have the desire where we can humbly say "Not my will, but His will be done" and "Not I, but Christ."

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by RoyW on February 17, 2011 at 3:37am

LT,

I sat in a holiness camp meeting service one time and the speaker was a dear old saint of God. He was speaking about the experience of sanctification. I was a young preacher at the time. He mentioned that God had sanctified him forty years ago and he had not committed one sin since. That was a difficult one for a young preacher to swallow. That dear saint has long gone on to meet the Lord. I never felt I could ever live up to the holiness expectations and turned a different direction. I'm still not sure that there is an experience where I come to Him and totally dedicate my life to Him and then He does something to me. I guess I have come to the conclusion that the only possible way I can live a holy life is that He has to make me holy. He has to do something to me first. I believe the only possible way I can be holy is if He just does it to me. I am holy because He made me holy. However, you must understand that this is coming from a guy that has pretty much walked away from the holiness movement. However, there are so many wonderful people in that movement (much better than me). Yet, I have seen high up officials in that movement do things that were very much in the flesh.

My grandfather was a holiness preacher and a good one. I used to listen to his sermons and want to be just like him. The problem I have, however, is that I am too much like him. Who knows? Maybe this sanctification experience that I have heard about all my life has never happened to me. Yet, I know I am holy. How do I know that? It is because He tells me that I am. That makes me want to live holy even though I often fail. I still have to give Christ all the credit.

There's a new song out called "I Will Not be Moved" by Natalie Grant. The chorus:

I will stumble
I will fall down
But I will not be moved
I will make mistakes
I will face heartache
But I will not be moved
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
I will not be moved 

I didn't intend to make that in big letters but I can't see how to make the text smaller. Anyway, the song pretty much sums up my life. My faith is built upon Him and His work. However, I see a more reality to our Christian walk in this new generation. My generation spent too much time pretending. This generation does seem to be more real. The video of that song would have never been considered sanctified in my circles. Yet the song is so real. I wonder how many of us can identify with the song. I have been a rebel and paid the price for such. Yet, my faith in Him is as strong as ever if not stronger. I know on Whom I stand. It is on that solid Rock.

Anyway, I am enjoying the posts from you and the others on this interesting topic.

Blessings to you all.

Roy

 

 

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